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ADDRESSES 


AT  THE  INAUGURATION  OF 


DANIEL  C.  GILMAN", 


President  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University, 


:BaUimorey  I'ebruary  22,  7876, 


BALTIMORE: 
Printed  by  John  Murphy  &  Co. 

182  Baltimore  Street. 
18U. 


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INTRODUCTION. 

The  public  exercises  connected  with  the  Inauguration  of  the 
first  President  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  were  held  in  the 
Academy  of  Music,  in  Baltimore,  Tuesday,  February  22d,  1876. 
His  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  Maryland  ;  his  Honor,  the  Mayor 
of  Baltimore ;  the  Presidents  and  representative  Professors  of 
a  large  number  of  Universities  and  Colleges ;  the  Trustees  and 
other  officers  of  the  scientific,  literary  and  educational  institutions 
of  Baltimore ;  the  State  and  City  officers  of  public  instruction 
and  other  invited  guests,  together  with  the  Trustees  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins, occupied  the  platform.  The  house  was  filled  with  an  atten- 
tive audience. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  the  chair  was  taken  by  the  President  of  the 
Trustees,  Mr,  Galloway  Cheston.  The  orchestra  of  the  Peabody 
Institute,  directed  by  Professor  Asger  Hamerik,  gave  the  Over- 
ture to  ^^Alceste,^^  by  Gluck. 

A  prayer  was  then  offered  up  by  Rev.  Alfred  M.  Randolph, 
D.  D.,  of  Emmanuel  Church ;  after  which  the  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  Jr.,  said  : 

"  Our  gathering  to-day  is  one  of  no  ordinary  interest.  From 
all  sections  of  our  State,  from  varied  sections  of  our  land,  we  have 
met  at  the  opening  of  another  avenue  to  social  progress  and 
national  renown.  After  two  years  of  pressing  responsibility 
and  anxious  care  the  Trustees  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
present  the  first  detailed  account  of  their  trust.  Of  the  difficul- 
ties attending  the  discharge  of  their  duty ;  of  the  nice  balancing 
of  judgment;  of  the  careful  investigation  and  continued  labor 
called  for  in  the  organization  of  the  University,  this  is  not  the 
place  to  speak ;  but  for  the  Board  of  Trustees,  I  may  be  allowed 
to  claim  the  credit  of  entire  devotion  to  the  work,  and  a  sincere 


desire  to  make  of  the  University  all  that  the  public  could  expect 
from  the  generous  foundation.  Happily,  our  action  is  unfettered, 
and  where  mistakes  occur,  as  occur  they  must,  the  will  and  power 
are  at  hand  to  correct  them.  We  may  say  that  the  University's 
birth  takes  place  to-day,  and  I  do  not  think  it  mere  sentiment, 
should  we  dwell  with  interest  upon  its  concurrence  with  the 
centennial  year  of  our  national  birth,  and  the  birth  day  of  him  who 
led  the  nation  from  the  throes  of  battle  to  maturity  and  peace. 
But  it  is  not  my  province  to  detain  you  from  the  exercises  which 
are  to  follow.  I  am  happy  to  state  that  we  have  among  us  to- 
day one  who  represents  the  highest  type  of  American  education, 
and  one  who,  from  the  beginning  has  sympathized  with,  coun- 
selled and  aided  us.  I  know  you  anticipate  me,  as  I  announce 
the  distinguished  name,  from  the  most  distinguished  seat  of 
learning  in  our  land — President  Eliot,  of  Harvard  University." 

President  Eliot  next  delivered  a  Congratulatory  Address. 

Beethoven's  Concert  Overture,  '^  The  Consecration  of  the 
House,^^  (C  maj.,  op.  124,)  having  been  performed  by  the  Orches- 
tra, Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  Jr.,  introduced  President  Oilman,  re- 
marking, as  he  did  so,  that  the  University  now  stands  forth 
baptized  with  ancient  Harvard  as  its  sponsor. 

President  Gilman  than  delivered  the  Inaugural  Address. 

At  its  conclusion,  the  Orchestra  gave  Weber's  "Jubilee  Over- 
ture," (E  maj.,  op.  59.) 

The  benediction  was  pronounced,  and  at  half  past  one,  the 
assembly  dispersed. 


CONGRATULATORY  ADDRESS 


BY 


CHARLE3  W.  ELIOT,  LL.D., 


S'resideni  of  Marrard  Unirersitj'. 


PRESIDENT  ELIOT'S  ADDRESS. 

THE  oldest  University  of  the  country  cordially 
greets  the  youngest,  and  welcomes  a  worthy 
ally — an  ally  strong  in  material  resources 
and  in  high  purpose. 

I   congratulate  you,   gentlemen.   Trustees   of 
THE  Johns  Hopkins  University,  upon  the  noble 
work  which  is  before  you.     A  great  property,  an 
important  part  of  the  fruit  of  a  long  life  devoted 
with  energy  and  sagacity  to  the  accumulation  of 
riches,  has  been  placed  in  your  hands,  upon  con- 
ditions as  magnanimous  as  they  are  wise,  to  be 
used  for  the  public  benefit  in  providing  for  coming 
generations  the  precious  means  of  liberal  culture. 
Your  Board  has  great  powers.     It  must  hold  and 
manage  the  property  of  the  University,  make  all 
appointments,  fix  all  salaries,  and,  while  leaving 
both  legislative  and  administrative  details  to  the 
several  faculties  which  it  will  create,  it  must  also 
prescribe    the    general    laws    of   the    University. 
Your   cares   and  labor  will  grow  heavy  as  time 
goes   on;    but  in  accordance  with   an   admirable 
usage,  fortunately  established  in  this  country,  you 
will  serve  without   other  compensation   than  the 

7 


8 

public  consideration  which  will  justly  attach  to 
your  office,  and  the  happy  sense  of  being  useful. 
The  actuating  spirit  of  your  Board  will  be  a  spirit 
of  scrupulous  fidelity  to  every  trust  reposed  in 
you,  and  of  untiring  zeal  in  promoting  the  welfare 
of  the  University  and  the  advancement  of  learn- 
ing. Judged  by  its  disinterestedness,  its  benefi- 
cence, and  its  permanence,  your  function  is  as  pure 
and  high  as  any  that  the  world  knows,  or  in  all 
time  has  known.  May  the  work  which  you  do  in 
the  discharge  of  your  sacred  trust  be  regarded  with 
sympathetic  and  expectant  forbearance  by  the  pre- 
sent generation,  and  with  admiration  and  gratitude 
by  posterity. 

The  University  which  is  to  take  its  rise  in  the 
splendid  benefaction  of  Johns  Hopkins  must  be 
unsectarian.  None  other  could  as  appropriately 
be  established  in  the  city  named  for  th#  Catholic 
founder  of  a  colony  to  which  all  Christian  sects 
were  welcomed,  or  in  the  State  in  which  religious 
toleration  was  expressly  declared  in  the  name  of 
the  Government  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  Christian  world.  There  is  a  too  common 
opinion  that  a  college  or  university  which  is  not 
denominational  must  therefore  be  irreligious;  but 
the  absence  of  sectarian  control  should  not  be  con- 
founded with  lack  of  piety.  A  university  whose 
officers  and  students  are  divided  among  many 
sects  need  no  more  be  irreverent  and  irreligious 


9 


than  the  community  which  in  respect  to  diversity 
of  creeds  it  resembles.  It  would  be  a  fearful  por- 
tent if  thorough  study  of  nature  and  of  man  in  all 
his  attributes  and  works,  such  as  befits  a  univer- 
sity, led  scholars  to  impiety.  But  it  does  not;  on 
the  contrary,  such  study  fills  men  with  humility 
and  awe,  by  bringing  them  on  every  hand  face  to 
face  with  inscrutable  mystery  and  infinite  power. 
The  whole  work  of  a  university  is  uplifting,  re- 
fining and  spiritualizing:   it  embraces 

"  whatsoever  touches  life 
With  upward  impulse ;   be  He  nowhere  else, 
God  is  in  all  that  liberates  and  lifts  ; 
In  all  that  humbles,  sweetens  and  consoles." 

A  university  cannot  be  built  upon  a  sect,  unless, 
indeed,  it  be  a  sect  which  includes  the  whole  of  the 
educated  portion  of  the  nation.  This  University 
will  not  demand  of  its  oflficers  and  students  the 
creed,  or  press  upon  them  the  doctrine  of  any  par- 
ticular religious  organization ;  but  none  the  less — 
I  should  better  say,  all  the  more — it  can  exert 
through  high-minded  teachers  a  strong  moral  and 
religious  infl.uence.  It  can  implant  in  the  young- 
breasts  of  its  students  exalted  sentiments  and  a 
worthy  ambition;  it  can  infuse  into  their  hearts 
the  sense  of  honor,  of  duty,  and  of  responsibility. 

I  congratulate  the  city  of  Baltimore,  Mr.  Mayor, 
that  in  a  few  generations  she  will  be  the  seat  of  a 
rich  and  powerful  university.     To  her  citizens  its 


10 


grounds  and  buildings  will  in  time  become  objects 
of  interest  and  pride.  The  libraries  and  other  col- 
lections of  a  university  are  storehouses  of  the  know- 
ledge already  acquired  by  mankind,  from  which 
further  invention  and  improvement  proceed.  They 
are  great  possessions  for  any  intelligent  commu- 
nity. The  tone  of  society  will  be  sensibly  affected 
by  the  presence  of  a  considerable  number  of  highly 
educated  men,  whose  quiet  and  simple  lives  are 
devoted  to  philosophy  and  teaching,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  common  objects  of  human  pursuit.  The 
University  will  hold  high  the  standards  of  public 
duty  and  public  spirit,  and  will  enlarge  that  culti- 
vated class  which  is  distinguished,  not  by  w^ealth 
merely,  but  by  refinement  and  spirituality. 

I  felicitate  the  State  of  Maryland,  whose 
Chief  Magistrate  honors  this  assembly  with 
his  presence,  upon  the  establishment  within  her 
borders  of  an  independent  institution  of  the  high- 
est education.  The  elementary  school  is  not  more 
necessary  to  the  existence  of  a  free  State  than  the 
University.  The  public  school  system  depends 
upon  the  institutions  of  higher  education,  and 
could  not  be  maintained  in  real  efficiency  with- 
out them.  The  function  of  colleges,  universities 
and  professional  schools,  is  largely  a  public  func- 
tion ;  their  work  is  done  primarily,  indeed,  upon 
individuals,  but  ultimately  for  the  public  good. 
They  help  powerfully  to  form  and  mould  aright 


11 


the  public  character;  and  that  public  character 
is  the  foundation  of  everything  which  is  precious 
in  the  State,  including  even  its  material  prosperity. 
In  training  men  thoroughly  for  the  learned  pro- 
fessions of  law  and  medicine,  this  University  will 
be  of  great  service  to  Maryland  and  the  neighbor- 
ing States.  During  the  past  forty  years  the  rules 
which  governed  admission  to  these  honorable  and 
confidential  professions  have  been  carelessly  re- 
laxed in  most  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  we 
are  now  suffering  great  losses  and  injuries,  both 
material  and  moral,  in  consequence  of  thus  thought- 
lessly abandoning  the  safer  ways  of  our  fathers. 
It  is  for  the  strong  universities  of  the  country  to 
provide  adequate  means  of  training  young  men 
well  for  the  learned  professions,  and  to  set  a 
high  standard  for  professional  degrees. 

President  Gilman,  this  distinguished  assembly 
has  come  together  to  give  you  God-speed.  I  wel- 
come you  to  arduous  duties  and  grave  responsi- 
bilities. In  the  natural  course  of  life  you  will  not 
see  any  large  part  of  the  real  fruits  of  your  labors; 
for  to  build  a  university  needs  not  years  only,  but 
generations;  but  though  '^ deeds  unfinished  will 
weigh  on  the  doer,"  and  anxieties  will  sometimes 
oppress  you,  great  privileges  are  nevertheless 
attached  to  your  ofiice.  It  is  a  precious  privilege 
that  in  your  ordinary  work  you  will  have  to  do 
onlv  with  men  of  refinement  and  honor ;   it  is  a 


12 


glad  and  animating  sight  to  see  successive  ranks 
of  young  men  pressing  year  by  year  into  the  battle 
of  life,  full  of  hope  and  courage,  and  each  year 
better  armed  and  equipped  for  the  strife ;  it  is  a 
privilege  to  serve  society  and  the  country  by  in- 
creasing the  means  of  culture ;  but,  above  all,  you 
will  have  the  great  happiness  of  devoting  yourself 
for  life  to  a  noble  public  work  without  reserve,  or 
stint,  or  thought  of  self,  looking  for  no  advance- 
ment, "hoping  for  nothing  again."  Knowing  well 
by  experience  the  nature  of  the  charge  which  you 
this  day  publicly  assume,  familiar  with  its  cares 
and  labors,  its  hopes  and  fears,  its  trials  and  its 
triumphs,  I  give  you  joy  of  the  work  to  which  you 
are  called,  and  welcome  you  to  a  service  which  will 
task  your  every  power. 

The  true  greatness  of  States  lies  not  in  territory, 
revenue,  population,  commerce,  crops  or  manufac- 
tures, but  in  immaterial  or  spiritual  things ;  in  the 
purity,  fortitude  and  uprightness  of  their  people, 
in  the  poetry,  literature,  science  and  art  which  they 
give  birth  to,  in  the  moral  worth  of  their  history 
and  life.  With  nations,  as  with  individuals,  none 
but  moral  supremacy  is  immutable  and  forever 
beneficent.  Universities,  wisely  directed,  store  up 
the  intellectual  capital  of  the  race,  and  become 
fountains  of  spiritual  and  moral  power.  Therefore 
our  whole  country  may  well  rejoice  with  you,  that 
you  are  auspiciously  founding  here  a  worthy  seat 


13 


of  learning  and  piety.  Here  may  young  feet, 
shunning  the  sordid  paths  of  low  desire  and 
worldly  ambition,  walk  humbly  in  the  steps  of  the 
illustrious  dead — the  poets,  artists,  philosophers 
and  statesmen  of  the  past ;  here  may  fresh  minds 
explore  new  fields  and  increase  the  sum  of  know- 
ledge :  here  from  time  to  time  may  great  men  be 
trained  up  to  be  leaders  of  the  people;  here  may 
the  irradiating  light  of  genius  sometimes  flash  out 
to  rejoice  mankind;  above  all,  here  may  many 
generations  of  manly  youth   learn  righteousness. 


n 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 


BY 


DANIEL  C.  GILMAN, 


President  of  the  Jo?ins  Sqpkins  irmrersiij>. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


IF  this  assembly,  with  one  voice,  could  utter 
the  thought  now  uppermost,  there  would  be 
a  deep,  quick,  hearty  acknowledgment  of  the 
bounty  of  Johns  Hopkins. 

His  beneficence,  so  free,  so  great,  so  wise,  pro- 
moting at  once  the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral 
welfare  of  his  fellow-men,  awakens  universal  sur- 
prise and  admiration,  and  calls  for  our  perpetual 
thanks. 

In  respect  to  the  giver,  I  can  say  but  little  to 
you,  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  who  knew  him  so 
well ;  who  remember  his  industry,  sagacity  and 
intellectual  force  ;  who  have  tested  his  integrity, 
and  found  that  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond ; 
who  recall  his  fore-sight,  his  enterprise,  and  his 
belief  in  the  future  of  this  city  and  state ;  who 
recollect  that  more  than  once  in  financial  crises 
he  hazarded  his  own  fortune  for  the  protection  of 
others ;  who  heard,  it  may  be  from  his  own  lips, 
2  17 


18 

the  motives  and  hopes  which  prompted  these  royal 
gifts  ;  who  believe  that  great  acquisitions  involve 
great  responsibilities,  but  who  know  how  hard  it 
Avas  for  one  long  accustomed  to  power  to  yield  that 
power  to  others ;  to  you,  his  fellow-citizens,  who 
saw  the  steps  by  which  this  benefactor  toiled 
upward  to  the  temple  of  Fortune,  and  there  un- 
satisfied, went  higher,  by  more  arduous  steps,  to 
the  temple  of  Charity,  wdiere  he  bestowed  his 
gifts. 

While  T  leave  to  others  the  commemoration  of 
our  founder,  you  must  let  me  refer  to  the  tributes 
of  admiration  which  his  generosity  has  called  out 
on  the  remotest  shores  of  our  own  land,  and  in 
the  most  venerable  shrines  of  European  learning. 
The  Berkeley  laurel  and  the  Oxford  ivy  may  well 
be  carved  upon  his  brow  when  the  sculptor  shapes 
his  likeness ;  for  by  wise  men  in  the  east  and  by 
rich  men  in  the  west,  his  gifts  are  praised  as 
among  the  most  timely,  the  most  generous,  and 
the  most  noble  ever  bestowed  bv  one,  for  all. 

The  genesis  of  American  munificence  is  a  bright 
chapter  of  our  history.  From  the  days  of  the 
Puritan  minister,  who  gave  his  name  to  our  oldest 
University,  and  the  days  of  the  London  merchant, 
who  endowed  the  second  college  in  New  England, 
each  generation  has  surpassed  its  predecessors. 
It  is  a  striking  coincidence  that  among  the  very 
earliest  names  on  this  heraldic  roll,  is  that  which 


19 


our  foundation  bears.  The  schools  which  Edward 
Hopkins,  a  colonial  governor,  established  in  1660, 
by  his  will,  and  his  gifts  to  Harvard,  still  keep 
alive  his  name  and  influence.  So  may  the  name 
of  our  founder  live  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years  to  come,  and  his  gifts  be  immortal.  Johns 
Hopkins  might  have  used  the  very  words  of 
Edward  Hopkins,  who  desired  to  bestow  "  some 
encouragement  for  the  breeding  up  of  hopeful 
youths,  for  the  public  service  of  the  country  in 
future  times." 

We  may  conjecture  a  spiritual  if  not  a  physical 
descent  in  the  line  of  Hopkins.  In  1676,  the 
name  is  written  on  the  door  of  an  endowed  gram- 
mar school  at  IS'ew  Haven,  older  than  Yale,  and 
second  only  to  Harvard;  in  1776,  the  name  is 
signed  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  in 
1876,  it  distinguishes  a  University  foundation. 
To  our  cotemporary,  we  may  apply  the  words 
with  whi-ch  the  deeds  of  the  colonial  governor 
are  recounted.  After  saying  that  his  last  will 
is  an  interesting  monument  of  private  friendship 
and  public  spirit,  that  friends  and  domestics  were 
not  forgotten,  that  his  public  gifts  were  "  for  the 
promotion  of  religion,  science  and  charity,"  the 
historian  adds  this  eulogy:  ^'Thus  did  this  lofty 
and  intellectual  spirit  devise  and  distribute  blessings 
in  his  own  age^  and  by  his  wisdom^  prepare  and  make 
them  perpetual  for  succeeding  times ^ 


20 


The  Endowment. 

The  total  amount  of  the  public  gifts  of  Johns 
Hopkins,  is  more  than  seven  million  dollars.  The 
sum  of  $3,500,000  is  appropriated  to  a  university; 
a  like  sum  to  a  hospital ;  and  the  rest  to  local 
institutions  of  education  and  charity.  Let  us  com- 
pare these  benefactions  with  some  others.  Thirty 
years  ago,  when  the  gift  of  Abbott  Lawrence  to 
Harvard  College  was  made  known  it  was  said  to 
be  "  the  largest  amount  ever  given  at  one  time 
during  the  life  time  of  the  donor  to  any  public 
institution  in  this  country," — the  amount  was 
$50,000 ;  the  gift  of  Smithson,  so  well  adminis- 
tered in  Washington,  amounted  to  over  half  a 
million ;  the  foundation  of  Stephen  Girard  sur- 
passed two  million  dollars. 

You  may  see  from  these  figures  what  great 
munificence  has  brought  us  together.  So  far  as 
I  can  learn,  the  Hopkins  foundation,  coming  from 
a  single  giver,  is  without  a  parallel  in  terms  or  in 
amount  in  this  or  any  land.  But  beware  of  exag- 
geration. These  gifts  are  often  spoken  of  as  if  the 
whole,  instead  of  the  half,  was  intended  for  the 
university,  and  then  as  if  an  equal  amount  was 
given  to  the  hospital ;  and  so  it  happens  that 
dreams  of  monumental  structures  and  splendid 
piles  and  munificent  salaries  flit  through  the  mind 


21 


which  can  never  become  real.  Do  not  forget  how 
much  wealth  is  accumulated  by  older  colleges — 
in  repute,  experience  and  influence,  and  also  in 
material  things.  The  property  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege is  more  than  live  million  dollars ;  that  of 
Yale  must  equal  our  endowment.  The  land  invest- 
ments of  a  university  in  the  Northw^est  are  said  to 
exceed  these  values ;  and  Ezra  Cornell,  while  he 
lived,  expected  that  the  endowments  at  Ithaca 
would  approach,  if  not  surpass,  the  funds  of  Har- 
vard. The  income  yielding  funds  of  Harvard  in 
1875  were  over  three  millions  ;  those  of  Yale  near 
a  million  and  a  half.  Even  these  figures  look  small 
compared  with  the  accumulations  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge. 

Now  turn  our  capital  into  income.  Our  univer- 
sity fund  yields  a  revenue  of  nearly  $200,000.  Let 
us  compare  this  amount  with  the  resources  of  our 
two  richest  colleges.  Harvard,  in  1874-5,  (in  all 
departments),  received  from  tuition  $168,541.72; 
from  property,  $218,715.30  ;  a  total  of  $387,257.02. 
The  college  alone,  not  including  the  library,  the 
general  administration,  or  any  of  the  special  de- 
partments, cost  $187,713.20,  which  is  nearly  our 
whole  income.  Yale  College  reports  its  academical 
expenses  (i.  e.,  exclusive  of  those  in  the  scientific, 
theological,  law,  medical  and  art  departments),  in 
1874-5,  as  $126,073.56. 


22 

But  all  our  revenue  is  not  at  once  available  ;  for, 
as  the  capital  cannot  be  spent  for  buildings,  some 
income  must  be  reserved  for  this.  Of  course,  the 
buildings  will  be  good  and  costly.  If  now  we 
deduct  from  our  income,  as  a  building  fund,  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  annually,  it  will  take 
several  years  to  accumulate  the  requisite  amount. 
Of  that  which  remains  a  large  sum  will  be  absorbed 
by  taxation,  administration  and  the  purchase  of 
books,  instruments  and  collections.  Thus  it  is 
evident  that  the  educational  income  at  present  is 
not  large.  Its  expenditure  requires  great  discretion 
and  prudence.  The  trustees  are  men  of  liberal 
views  in  respect  to  professional  salaries,  but  they 
see  as  clearly  as  a  schoolboy  sees  through  a  problem 
in  short  division  that  the  larger  the  divisor,  the 
less  the  quotient ;  the  more  salary,  the  less  chairs  ; 
the  more  eminent  and  costly  the  teachers,  the  fewer 
can  be  secured.  I  wish  that  everv  one  who  sees 
the  need  of  a  great  university,  and  who  knows  the 
range  of  human  science,  would  take  a  pencil  and 
distribute  our  income  in  the  departments  which  he 
would  like  to  see  promoted  here.  If  his  experience 
is  like  mine,  he  will  find  that  before  his  pencil  has 
half  gone  down  the  column  of  the  sciences,  the  in- 
come has  been  twice  expended. 

I  fear  that  these  remarks  are  a  little  ungracious, 
and  I  would  gladly  repress  them ;  but  the  private 
and  public  utterances  of  thoughtful  men  have  been 


23 

t 

SO  vague  as  to  what  it  is  possible  for  the  trustees 
of  this  university  to  accomplish  at  once,  and  our 
friends  are  so  very  generous  in  their  expectations 
that  I  feel  compelled,  at  the  very  outset,  to  utter  a 
word  of  caution.  If  our  physicists  could  bring  us 
"Aladdin's  lamp,"  or  our  chemists  produce  "the 
philosopher's  stone,"  or  our  merchants  give  us 
"  the  widow's  cruse,"  our  aspirations  should  not 
be  checked  by  our  restricted  means ;  but,  till  the 
original  benefaction  is  supplemented  by  other  gifts, 
or  the  growth  of  Baltimore  increases  the  value  of 
our  present  investments,  we  must  be  contented  with 
good  work  in  a  limited  field. 


Its  Five-Fold  Advantages. 

To  many  the  magnitude  of  our  founder's  bounty 
seems  its  principal  value ;  that  is,  in  fact,  but  half 
its  glory.  With  a  self-renunciation  which  is  rare 
and  noble,  he  attached  to  the  gift  no  burdensome 
condition  or  personal  whim.  The  almoners  of  his 
bounty  are  restrained  b}^  no  shackles  bequeathed 
by  a  departed  benefactor,  as  they  enter  upon  their 
course  bearing  in  the  one  hand  the  ointment  of 
charity  and  in  the  other  the  lamp  of  science.  His 
trustees  are  free — free  to  determine  principles,  to 
decide  upon  methods,  to  distribute  income,  to  select 
professors,  to  summon  students,  and  even  to  alter, 


24 


from  time  to  time,  their  own  plans — as  the  enlight- 
enment of  the  world  bestows  its  radiance  upon 
their  undertaking. 

In  selecting  trustees  the  choice  of  our  founder 
fell  upon  those  of  his  friends  and  acquaintances 
whom  he  believed  would  be  free  from  a  desire  to 
promote,  in  their  official  action,  the  special  tenets 
of  any  denomination  or  the  platform  of  any  polit- 
ical party.  In  a  land  where  almost  every  strong- 
institution  of  learning  is  either  "a  child  of  the 
church "  or  "a  child  of  the  state,"  and  is  thus 
liable  to  political  or  ecclesiastical  control,  he  has 
planted  the  germ  of  a  university  which  will  doubt- 
less serve  both  church  and  state  the  better  because 
it  is  free  from  the  guardianship  of  either.  It  was 
his  wish — it  is  our  wish — that  here  should  be  a 
seat  of  learning  so  attractive  that  at  its  threshold 
students  would  gladly  cease  to  discuss  sectarian 
animosities  and  political  prejudices,  in  their  eager- 
ness for  the  acquisition  of  Knowledge  and  their 
search  for  Eternal  Truth.  As  in  olden  time  the 
courtier's  and  the  peasant's  sons  laid  aside  their 
distinctive  costumes  when  they  donned  the  aca- 
demic dress,  let  us  hope  that  here  the  only  badges 
will  be  those  which  mark  the  scholar. 

Another  advantage  attends  our  foundation.  It 
is  established  in  a  large  town,  in  an  old  state,  near 
to  the  financial  and  the  political  Capitals  of  the 
Republic ;    and  at  the  junction  of  national  high- 


25 

ways  which  connect  the  North  and  the  South,  the 
East  and  the  West.  This  is  in  fact  a  metropolis 
or  middle  city.  Such  geographical  considerations 
will  surely  aifect  our  future.  Baltimore,  more- 
over, is  prepared  for  this  foundation.  Professional 
schools  of  law,  medicine  and  theology  already 
attract  large  numbers  of  students.  Technical  in- 
struction in  the  useful  arts  is  to  some  extent  pro- 
vided in  the  Maryland  Institute.  The  votaries  of 
the  natural  sciences  are  associated  in  an  Academy, 
which  only  needs  an  endowment  to  enable  it  to 
take  rank  with  kindred  societies  elsewhere.  The 
city,  with  a  liberality  which  is  praised  at  home 
and  abroad,  maintains  two  excellent  high  schools 
for  young  ladies,  and  for  young  men  a  City  Col- 
lege, so  well  organized,  so  well  taught  and  so  well 
supported,  that  it  relieves  our  foundation  of  doing 
much  which  is  called  "collegiate"  in  distinction 
from  "  univ^ersity  "  work.  There  are  good  private 
schools.  There  are  excellent  collections  of  paint- 
ings and  rare  opportunities  for  the  study  of  music, 
both  as  a  science  and  an  art.  More  than  all  this 
the  foundation  of  George  Peabody,  in  which  a 
capital  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars  is 
forever  set  apart  for  the  promotion  of  culture,  has 
now,  with  increasing  strength,  survived  the  perils 
of  infancy,  and  gained  a  place  among  the  very 
best  establishments  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  our 
land.    Its  library  is  extraordinary  for  our  country; 


2Q 


not  because  of  its  size,  (some  60,000  volumes)  but 
because  it  has  been  selected  with  an  experienced 
eye,  among  the  most  modern  and  most  useful  of , 
the  publications  of  the  world. 

The   advantage   which   will   come    to    the    new 
University   in   its   medical   department   from   the 
establishment  of  a  hospital,  on  a  separate  but  allied 
foundation,  is  most  obvious.     Obvious  though  it  is, 
the   most   enlightened   can   not   over-estimate    its 
value.     If  so  large  a  sum  as  the   hospital   fund 
($3,500,000)  were  consecrated  under  any  circum- 
stances to  the  relief  of  suffering,  the  promotion  of 
health,   and   the   preservation   of  life  — humanity 
would  rejoice;  but  when  such  a  foundation  is  con- 
nected with  a  university,  so  that  on  the  one  hand  it 
commands  all  the  resources  of  human   learning, 
and  on  the  other  makes  known  through  accom- 
plished teachers  the  results  of  its  experience,  we 
may  confidently  expect  that  its  influence  for  good 
will  be  more  than    doubled;  that   its   immediate 
work  in  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded  will  be 
better  done  than  would  otherwise  be  possible;  and 
that   its   remedial    and    preventive    agencies   will 
extend  to  thousands  who  may  never  come  within 
its  walls,  but  whose  ills  will  be  relieved  by  those 
taught  here. 

The  timeliness  of  our  foundation  is  the  last  of 
the  advantages  which  I  shall  name.  We  begin 
our  work  after  discussions  lasting  for  a  generation 


27 

respecting  the  aims,  methods,  deficiencies,  and  pos- 
sibilities of  higher  education  in  this  country ;  after 
numerous  experiments,  some  with  oil  in  the  lamps 
and  some  without ;  after  costly  ventures  of  which 
we  reap  the  lessons,  while  others  bear  the  loss ; 
after  Jefferson,  JSTott,  Wayland,  Quincy,  Agassiz, 
Tappan,  Mark  Hopkins,  Woolsey,  have  completed 
their  official  services  and  have  given  us  their 
supreme  decisions  ;  while  the  strong  successors  of 
these  strong  men,  Eliot,  Porter,  Barnard,  White, 
Angell  and  McCosh,  are  still  upon  the  controversial 
platform ;  we  begin  after  the  national  bounty  has 
for  fourteen  years,  under  the  far-reaching  bill  of 
Senator  Morrill  of  Vermont,  promoted  scientific 
education ;  and  after  scores  of  wealthy  men  have 
bestow^ed  many  million  dollars  for  the  foundation 
of  new  institutions  of  the  highest  sort. 


Discussions  Elsewhere. 

Educational  discussions  and  movements  are  not 
restricted  to  our  new  country.  In  old  England, 
questions  like  these  are  constantly  rife,  (in  addition 
to  many  of  purely  local  interest) :  How  may  pro- 
fessorships in  the  old  universities  be  restored  to 
the  dignity  or  influence,  of  which  they  have  been 
in  part  deprived  by  the  excessive  preponderance  of 
collegiate  instruction ;  how  may  the  university  in- 


28 


fluences  be  extended  to  all  the  large  towns ;  how 
may  science  gain  a  more  generous  recognition  in 
the  ancient  seats  of  learning ;  how  may  endowments 
for  research  be  established  without  leading  to  sine- 
cure fellowships  ;  how  may  ecclesiastical  fetters  be 
removed  from  academic  institutions ;  how  may  the 
universities,  by  their  systems  of  local  examinations, 
best  promote  the  welfare  of  the  preparatory  schools, 
or  the  training  of  young  persons  who  are  not  likely 
to  enter  the  university ;  how  may  the  university 
better  provide  for  the  innumerable  modern  callings, 
which  lie  outside  of  the  old  "professions"  but 
require  an  equal  culture. 

In  France,  there  has  not  been  since  the  Revolu- 
tion, I  presume,  such  interest  in  the  promotion  of 
universities  as  now.  I  pronounce  no  opinions,  but 
I  call  attention  to  the  remarkable  law  which  was 
passed  last  year,  relinquishing  the  exclusiveness  of 
a  State  foundation,  and  declaring  university  instruc- 
tion to  be  free.  Those  who  have  hitherto  been 
oppressed,  as  they  have  thought,  by  a  hard  law, 
now  seize  with  alacrity  the  opportunity  to  found 
new  institutions,  and  the  oiferings  of  the  faithful 
are  freely  poured  out  to  restore  to  the  Church  those 
intellectual  agencies  from  which  she  has  been 
cut  off. 

At  a  distance,  Germany  seems  the  one  country 
where  educational  problems  are  determined ;  not 
so,  on  a  nearer  look.     The  thoroughness   of  the 


29 


German  mind,  its  desire  for  perfection  in  every 
detail,  and  its  philosophical  aptitudes  are  well  illus- 
trated by  the  controversies  now  in  vogue  in  the 
land  of  universities.  In  following,  as  we  are  prone 
to  do  in  educational  matters,  the  example  of  Ger- 
many, we  must  beware  lest  we  accept  what  is  there 
cast  off;  lest  we  introduce  faults  as  well  as  virtues, 
defects  with  excellence.  Some  of  the  ablest  men  in 
the  new  empire  are  now  questioning  whether  "  the 
Real  School "  system,  after  a  trial  of  so  many 
years,  is  justified  of  its  works — and  whether  "the 
gymnasium,"  somewhat  modified,  should  not  ♦  be 
the  training  place  of  all  who  seek  a  higher  culture. 
Others  are  questioning  whether  it  is  not  a  mistake 
to  maintain  polytechnic  schools,  and  special  schools 
of  agriculture,  forestry,  mining,  etc.,  apart  from 
the  universities ;  and  whether  it  would  not  be 
better  to  combine  the  higher  educational  founda- 
tions under  one  direction  and  in  one  centre.  Some 
of  the  best  scientific  men  declare  their  belief  that 
the  university  instruction  in  science,  following  the 
gymnastic  discipline,  is  better  far  as  a  preparation 
for  what  are  called  the  modern  pursuits,  than  the 
training  which  is  given  by  the  Meal  school  and  the 
Polytechnic,  and  so  they  assert  that  an  exaggerated 
value  has  been  attached  to  technical  training. 

I  only  allude  to  these  discussions  in  passing.  It 
would  take  many  hours  to  unfold  them.  But  it  is 
well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  most  enlightened 


30 

institutions  in  our  country,  and  tlie  most  enlight- 
ened countries  in  Europe,  are  those  in  which  edu- 
cational discussions  are  now  most  lively  ;  and  it 
behooves  us,  as  we  engage  in  a  new  undertaking, 
to  listen,  ponder,  and  observe ;  and  above  all  to  be 
modest  in  the  announcement  of  our  plans.  It 
should  make  the  authorities  cautious  in  offering, 
and  the  public  cautious  in  demanding  a  completed 
scheme  for  the  establishment  of  a  university  in 
Baltimore. 

Our  caution  is  none  the  less  needed  when  we 
remember  that  at  the  present  moment  Americans 
are  engaged  in  promoting  the  institutions  of  higher 
education  in  Tokio,  Peking  and  Beirout,  in  Egypt 
and  the  Hawaiian  Isles,  The  oldest  and  the  re- 
motest nations  are  looking  here  for  light. 

What  is  the  significance  of  all  this  activity  ?  It 
is  a  reaching  out  for  a  better  state  of  society  than 
now  exists ;  it  is  a  dim  but  an  indelible  impression 
of  the  value  of  learning ;  it  is  a  craving  for  intel- 
lectual and  moral  growth ;  it  is  a  longing  to  inter- 
pret the  laws  of  creation ;  it  means  a  wish  for  less 
misery  among  the  poor,  less  ignorance  in  schools, 
less  bigotry  in  the  temple,  less  suffering  in  the 
hospital,  less  fraud  in  business,  less  folly  in  pol- 
itics ;  it  means  more  study  of  nature,  more  love  of 
art,  more  lessons  from  history,  more  security  in 
property,  more  health  in  cities,  more  virtue  in  the 
country,  more  wisdom  in  legislation,  more  intelli- 
gence, more  happiness,  more  religion. 


31 


The  Higher  Education. 

The  institutions  which  are  founded  in  modern 
society  for  the  promotion  of  superior  education 
may  be  grouped  in  five  classes : — 1,  Universi- 
ties; 2,  Learned  Societies;  3,  Colleges;  4, 
Technical  Schools  ;  and  5,  Museums,  (including 
literary  and  scientific  collections).  It  is  important 
that  the  fundamental  ideas  of  these  various  insti- 
tutions should  be  borne  in  mind. 

The  University  is  a  place  for  the  advanced  spe- 
cial education  of  youth  who  have  been  prepared 
for  its  freedom  by  the  discipline  of  a  lower  school. 
Its  form  varies  in  different  countries.     Oxford  and 
Cambridge  universities,  are  quite  unlike  the  Scotch, 
and  still  more  unlike  the  Queen's  University  in 
Ireland ;  the  University  of  France  has  no  counter- 
part in  Germany ;  the  typical  German  universities 
diifer  much  from  one  another.     But  while  forms 
and  methods  vary,  the  freedom  to  investigate,  the 
obligation  to  teach,  and   the  careful   bestowal  of 
academic    honors    are    always   understood    to    be 
among  the  university  functions.     The  pupils  are 
supposed  to  be  wise  enough  to  select,  and  mature 
enough  to  follow  the  courses  they  pursue. 

The  Academy,  or  Learned  Society,  of  which  the 
Institute  of  France,  with  its  five  academies,  and  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  are  typical  examples — 


32 


is  an  association  of  learned  men,  selected  for  their 
real  or  reputed  merits,  who  assemble  for  mutual 
instruction  and  attrition,  and  who  publish  from 
time  to  time  the  papers  they  have  received  and 
the  proceedings  in  which  they  have  engaged.  The 
University  is  also  an  association  of  learned  men, 
but  the  bond  which  holds  them  together  differs 
essentially  from  that  of  the  academy.  In  the  uni- 
versities teaching  is  essential,  research  important; 
in  academies  of  science  research  is  indispensable, 
tuition  rarely  thought  of. 

The  College  implies,  as  a  general  rule,  restriction 
rather  than  freedom ;  tutorial  rather  than  professo- 
rial guidance  ;  residence  within  appointed  bounds  ; 
the  chapel,  the  dining  hall,  and  the  daily  inspec- 
tion. The  college  theoretically  stands  in  loco  jpa- 
rentis;  it  does  not  afford  a  very  wide  scope;  it 
gives  a  liberal  and  substantial  foundation  on  w^hich 
the  university  instruction  may  be  wisely  built. 

The  Technical  Schools  present  the  idea  of  prepa- 
ration for  a  specific  calling,  rather  than  the  notion 
of  a  liberal  culture.  They  have  in  view^  the  im- 
parting of  knowledge  which  will  be  useful  in  the 
practice  of  a  profession,  and  often  set  forward  as  a 
motive,  an  assured  introduction  to  the  openings 
which  are  ready  for  those  who  have  received  their 
training. 

Museums,  Galleries  and  Libraries,  (of  which  the 
British  Museum  is  the  grandest  type),  are  indeed 


33 

connected  with  the  other  agencies  we  have  named, 
but  they  often  have  an  independent  existence. 
They  fulfil  a  two-fold  purpose.  They  preserve 
and  store  away  the  treasures  of  art,  literature  and 
science ;  and  they  distribute  widely  among  the 
people  those  seeds  of  culture  which  are  developed 
by  artistic,  historic  and  scientific  acquisitions. 

Thus  we  say  that  the  Academy  of  Sciences  pro- 
motes the  intellectual  attrition  of  the  most  learned 
men ;  the  University  favors  the  liberal  and  special 
culture  of  advanced  students ;  the  College  trains 
aspiring  youth  for  their  future  intellectual  freedom ; 
the  Technical  School  affords  a  good  preparation  for 
a  specific  vocation ;  and  the  Museum  provides  ma- 
terials for  study,  adapted  like  the  world  itself,  to 
interest  the  most  profound  and  the  most  superficial. 

Now  it  is  clear  that  we  might  have  a  University 
without  the  four  adjuncts  I  have  named;  and  we 
might  have  the  four  accessories  without  the  Univer- 
sity, but  practically  wherever  a  strong  University 
is  maintained,  these  four-fold  agencies  revolve 
around  it.  It  is  the  sun  and  they  are  the  planets. 
In  Baltimore  you  have  hitherto  had  a  College,  an 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Professional  Schools  and  a 
Scholars'  Library,  but  you  have  not  had  such  an 
endowed  University  as  that  which  is  now  inaugu- 
rated. 

Indeed  this  new  foundation  might  almost  adopt 
the  preamble  which  John  Calvin  prefixed  to  the 
3 


34 


statutes  of  the  Academy  of  Geneva :  "  Verily  hath 
God  heretofore  endowed  our  commonwealth  with 
many  and  notable  adornments,  yet  hath  it  to  this 
day  had  to  seek  abroad  for  instruction  in  good  arts 
and  disciplines  for  its  youth,  with  many  lets  and 
hindrances." 

But  soon  I  hope  we  may  add  what  Erasmus  said 
at  Oxford  :  "  It  is  w^onderful  what  a  harvest  of  old 
volumes  is  flourishing  here  on  every  side;  there  is 
so  much  of  erudition,  not  common  and  trivial,  but 
recondite,  accurate  and  ancient,  both  Greek  and 
Latin,  that  I  should  not  wish  to  visit  Italy,  except 
for  the  gratification  of  traveling." 

The  earliest  foundations  in  our  country  were 
colleges,  not  universities.  Scholars  were  often 
graduated  early  in  this  century  at  the  age  when 
now  they  enter.  Earnest  efforts  are  now  making 
to  establish  universities.  Harvard,  with  a  boldness 
which  is  remarkable,  has  essentially  given  up  its 
collegiate  restrictions  and  introduced  the  benefits 
of  university  freedom;  Yale  preserves  its  college 
course  intact,  but  has  added  a  school  of  science  and 
developed  a  strong  graduate  department ;  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  and  Cornell  University  quite 
early  adopted  the  discipline  of  universities,  and 
already  equal  or  surpass  not  a  few  of  their  elder 
sisters  ;  the  University  of  Virginia  from  its  founda- 
tion has  upheld  the  university  in  distinction  from 
the  college  idea.     The  cry  all  over  the  land  is  for 


35 


university  advantages,  not  as  superseding  but  as 
supplementing  collegiate  discipline. 

As  we,  my  friends,  are  called  upon  to  develop  a 
university,  it  becomes  important  not  only  to  dis- 
tinguish its  essential  idea  from  that  of  any  other 
institution,  but  also  to  form  a  clear  conception  of 
its  special  province;  of  various  plans  which  have 
governed  its  organization ;  of  the  good  which  it 
promotes  ;  of  the  questions  which  are  settled ;  of 
the  questions  which  are  not  settled  ;  and  especially 
of  the  bearing  of  all  these  points  on  our  land,  our 
time's,  our  foundation.  Thus  only  shall  we  make  a 
contribution  to  the  intellectual  agencies  of  this 
country,  and  add  a  positive  gain  to  American 
learning  and  education  in  the  second  century  of 
the  Republic. 

The  tenor  of  my  remarks  has  implied  perhaps 
more  diversity  of  opinion  than  really  exists  in 
respect  to  universities.  The  truth  is,  most  institu- 
tions are  not  free  to  build  anew ;  they  can  only 
readjust.  It  has  been  playfully  said  that  *' tradi- 
tions and  conditions  "  impede  their  progress.  But 
whatever  may  be  the  concrete  difficulties,  on  many 
abstract  principles  there  is  little  need  of  contro- 
versy. Our  effort  will  be  to  accept  that  which  is 
determined, — to  avoid  that  which  is  obsolescent, 
to  study  that  which  is  doubtful, — "slowly  making 
haste." 


36 


Twelve  Points  Determined. 

Is,  then,  anything  settled  in  respect  to  university 
education?  Much,  very  much.  Can  we  draw  a 
statement  of  what  is  agreed  upon?  At  any  rate 
we  can  try. 

The  schedule  will  include  twelve  points  on  which 
there  seems  to  be  a  general  agreement. 

1.  All  sciences  are  worthy  of  promotion  ;  or  in 
other  words,  it  is  useless  to  dispute  whether  litera- 
ture or  science  should  receive  most  attention,  or 
whether  there  is  any  essential  difference  between 
the  old  and  the  new  education. 

2.  Religion  has  nothing  to  fear  from  science,  and 
science  need  not  be  afraid  of  religion.  Religion 
claims  to  interpret  the  word  of  God,  and  science 
to  reveal  the  laws  of  God.  The  interpreters  may 
blunder,  but  truths  are  immutable,  eternal  and 
never  in  conflict. 

3.  Remote  utility  is  quite  as  worthy  to  be  thought 
of  as  immediate  advantage.  Those  ventures  are 
not  always  most  sagacious  that  expect  a  return  on 
the  morrow.  It  sometimes  pays  to  send  our 
argosies  across  the  seas ;  to  make  investments  with 
an  eye  to  slow  but  sure  returns.  So  is  it  always  in 
the  promotion  of  science. 

4.   As   it  is   impossible  for   any  university  to 
encourage  with    equal    freedom    all    branches    of 


37 

learning,  a  selection  must  be  made  by  enlightened 
governors,  and  that  selection  must  depend  on  the 
requirements  and  deficiencies  of  a  given  people,  in 
a  given  period.  There  is  no  absolute  standard  of 
preference.  What  is  more  important  at  one  time 
or  in  one  place  may  be  less  needed  elsewhere  and 
otherwise. 

5.  Individual  students  cannot  pursue  all  branches 
of  learning,  and  must  be  allowed  to  select,  under 
the  guidance  of  those  who  are  appointed  to  counsel 
them.  JSTor  can  able  professors  be  governed  by 
routine.  Teachers  and  pupils  must  be  allowed 
great  freedom  in  their  method  of  work.  Recita- 
tions, lectures,  examinations,  laboratories,  libra- 
ries, field  exercises,  travels,  are  all  legitimate 
means  of  culture. 

6.  The  best  scholars  will  almost  invariably  be 
those  who  make  special  attainments  on  the  founda- 
tion of  a  broad  and  liberal  culture. 

7.  The  best  teachers  are  usually  those  who  are 
free,  competent  and  willing  to  make  original  re- 
searches in  the  library  and  the  laboratory. 

8.  The  best  investigators  are  usually  those  who 
have  also  the  responsibilities  of  instruction,  gaining 
thus  the  incitement  of  colleagues,  the  encourage- 
ment of  pupils,  the  observation  of  the  public. 

9.  Universities  should  bestow  their  honors  with 
a  sparing  hand;  their  benefits  most  freely. 


38 

10.  A  university  cannot  be  created  in  a  day ;  it 
is  a  slow  growth.  The  University  of  Berlin  has 
been  quoted  as  a  proof  of  the  contrary.  That  was 
indeed  a  quick  success,  but  in  an  old,  compact 
country,  crowded  with  learned  men  eager  to  assem- 
ble at  the  Prussian  court.  It  was  a  change  of  base 
rather  than  a  sudden  development. 

11.  The  object  of  the  university  is  to  develop 
character — to  make  men.  It  misses  its  aim  if  it 
produces  learned  pedants,  or  simple  artisans,  or 
cunning  sophists,  or  pretentious  practitioners.  Its 
purport  is  not  so  much  to  impart  knowledge  to  the 
pupils,  as  to  whet  the  appetite,  exhibit  methods, 
develop  powers,  strengthen  judgment,  and  invig- 
orate the  intellectual  and  moral  forces.  It  should 
prepare  for  the  service  of  society  a  class  of  students 
who  will  be  wise,  thoughtful,  progressive  guides  in 
whatever  department  of  work  or  thought  they  may 
be  engaged. 

12.  Universities  easily  fall  into  ruts.  Almost 
every  epoch  requires  a  fresh  start. 

If  these  twelve  points  are  conceded,  our  task  is 
simplified,  though  it  is  still  difficult.  It  is  to  apply 
these  principles  to  Baltimore  in  1876. 

We  are  trying  to  do  this  with  no  controversy  as 
to  the  relative  importance  of  letters  and  science, 
the  conflicts  of  religion  and  science,  or  the  relation 
of  abstractions  and  utilities ;  our  simple  aim  is  to 
make  scholars,  strong,  bright,  useful  and  true. 


39 


This  brings  me  to  the  question  which  has  brought 
you  here. 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University  :  what  will  he 
its  scope"?  The  Trustees  have  decided  to  begin 
with  those  things  which  are  fundamental  and  move 
gradually  forward  to  those  which  are  accessory. 

They  will  institute  at  first  tliose  chairs  of  lan- 
guage, mathematics,  ethics,  history  and  science 
which  are  commonly  grouped  under  the  name  of 
the  Department  of  Philosophy. 

The  Medical  Faculty  will  not  long  be  delayed; 
that  of  Jurisprudence  will  come  in  time ;  that  of 
Theology  is  not  now  proposed. 

I  have  lately  met  with  an  ancient  saying  in 
respect  to  the  development  of  a  youth.  "At  five," 
the  precept  read,  '*  he  was  to  study  the*  Scriptures ; 
at  ten,  the  Mishna  ;  at  thirteen,  the  Talmud ;  at 
eighteen,  to  marry ;  at  twenty,  to  attain  riches ;  at 
thirty,  strength ;  at  forty,  prudence,  and  so  on  to 
the  end."  So  we  begin  with  the  essential,  proceed 
to  the  important,  expect  enlarged  endowments,  and 
look  for  strength,  prudence  and  the  other  virtues 
as  we  grow  in  years. 

In  organizing  a  faculty,  the  first  chairs  to  be 
filled  are  those  which  everywhere,  always  and  by 
all  people  in  the  modern  Republic  of  Letters,  are 
regarded  as  needful.  We  must  provide  for  the 
study  of  languages,  ancient  and  modern ;  math- 
ematics, pure  and  applied;    science,  natural  and 


40 

physical.  All  this  is  assumed  as  granted.  But  if 
we  should  do  all  this  well  and  do  nothing  more,  we 
should  not  add  much  to  the  intellectual  resources 
of  the  country.  We  must  ask  ourselves  other 
questions:  What  special  departments  of  learning 
are  now  neglected  in  the  higher  institutions  of  this 
country?  What  can  we  provide  for?  In  what 
order  shall  we  proceed  ? 

These  problems  require  profound  consideration; 
their  answer  must  depend  on  manifold  conditions ; 
their  solution  will  doubtless  be  the  result  of  many 
counsels.  Partly  to  elicit  the  suggestions  of  other 
teachers,  and  partly  to  exhibit  what  seem  to  me 
the  inevitable  demands  of  this  place,  I  shall  sug- 
gest some  of  the  departments  of  higher  education 
which  seem  to  require  attention  from  us.  I  can- 
not now  tell  all  I  think  and  hope. 

As  a  fundamental  proposition,  bear  in  mind  that 
we  shall  aim  to  choose  the  fittest  teachers,  and 
shall  then  expect  them  to  do  their  very  best  work. 
None  but  a  college  officer  will  appreciate  all  that 
this  brief  sentence  carries  with  it. 


The  Medical  Sciences  and  Biology. 

When  we  turn  to  the  existing  provisions  for 
medical  instruction  in  this  land  and  compare  them 
with  those  of  Euro]Dean  universities;  when  we  see 
what  inadequate  endowments  have  been  provided 


41 


for  our  medical  schools,  and  to  what  abuses  the 
system  of  fees  for  tuition  has  led;  when  we  see 
that  in  some  of  our  very  best  colleges  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  can  be  won  in  half  the  time 
required  to  win  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts ; 
when  we  see  a  disposition  to  treat  diplomas  as 
blank  paper  by  the  civilians  at  home  and  the  pro- 
fession abroad  ;  when  we  read  the  reports  of  the 
medical  faculty  in  their  own  professional  journals; 
when  we  see  the  difficulties  which  have  been  en- 
countered at  Harvard,  Yale,  and  elsewhere,  in 
late  attempts  to  reorganize  the  medical  schools; 
when  we  see  the  prevalence  of  quackery  vaunting 
its  diplomas,  it  is  clear  that  something  should  be 
done.  Then,  turning  to  the  other  side  of  the  pic- 
ture, when  we  see  what  admirable  teachers  have 
given  instruction  among  us  in  medicine  and  sur- 
gery ;  what  noble  hospitals  have  been  created ; 
what  marvellous  discoveries  in  surgery  have  been 
made  by  our  countrymen ;  what  ingenious  instru- 
ments they  have  contrived;  what  humane  and 
skillful  appliances  they  have  provided  on  the  bat- 
tlefield ;  what  admirable  measures  are  in  progress 
for  the  advancement  of  hygiene  and  the  promotion 
of  public  health ;  when  we  see  what  success  has 
attended  recent  efforts  to  reform  the  system  of 
medical  instruction ;  when  we  observe  all  this,  we 
need  not  fear  that  the  day  is  distant — we  may 
rather  rejoice  that  the  morning  has  dawned  which 


42 


will  see  endownents  for  medical  science  as  munifi- 
cent as  those  now  provided  for  any  branch  of  learn- 
ing, and  schools  as  good  as  those  which  are  now 
provided  in  any  other  land. 

It  will  doubtless  be  long,  after  the  opening  of 
the  University,  before  the  opening  of  the  Hospital, 
and  this  interval  may  be  spent  in  forming  plans 
for  the  department  of  Medicine. 

But  in  the  meantime  we  have  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  provide  instruction  antecedent  to 
the  professional  study  of  medicine.  At  the  pre- 
sent moment  medical  students  avoid  the  ordinary 
colleges.  A  glance  at  the  catalogues  is  enough 
to  show  that  the  usual  classical  or  academic  course 
is  unattractiv^e  to  such  scholars.  The  reasons  need 
not  be  given  here.  But  who  can  doubt  that  a 
course  may  be  maintained,  like  that  already  begun 
in  the  Sheffield  School  at  New  Haven,  which  shall 
train  the  eye,  the  hand  and  the  brain,  for  the  later 
study  of  medicine?  Such  a  course  should  include 
abundant  practice  in  the  laboratories  of  chemistry, 
zoology  and  physics;  the  study  of  the  anatomy, 
physiology,  and  pathology  of  the  lower  forms  of 
life;  an  investigation  of  the  elements  of  physics 
and  mechanics,  and  of  climatic  and  meteorlogical 
laws  ;  the  geographical  distribution  of  disease ;  the 
remedial  agencies  of  nature  and  art;  and,  besides 
these  scientific  studies,  the  student  should  acquire 
enough  of  French  and  German  to  follow  with  ease 


43 

European  science,  and  enough  of  Latin  for  his 
professional  needs.  In  other  words,  in  our  scheme 
of  a  university,  great  prominence  should  be  given 
to  the  studies  which  bear  upon  Life, — the  group 
now  called  Biological  Sciences. 
/  Such  facilities  as  are  now  afforded  under  Huxley 
in  London,  and  Rolleston  at  Oxford,  and  Foster 
at  Cambridge,  and  in  the  best  German  universities, 
should  here  be  introduced.  They  would  serve  us 
in  the  training  of  naturalists,  but  they  would  serve 
us  still  more  in  the  training  of  physicians.  By  the 
time  we  are  ready  to  open  a  school  of  medicine,  Ave 
might  hope  to  have  a  superior,  if  not  a  numerous, 
body  of  aspirants  for  one  of  the  noblest  callings  to 
which  the  heart  and  head  can  be  devoted. 

When  the  medical  department  is  organized,  it 
should  be  independent  of  the  income  derived  from 
student  fees,  so  that  there  may  not  be  the  slightest 
temptation  to  bestow  the  diploma  on  an  unworthy 
candidate ;  or  rather  let  me  say,  so  that  the  Johns 
Hopkins  diploma  will  not  be  a  greenback,  but  will 
be  worth  its  face  in  the  currency  of  the  world. 


The  Modern  Humanities. 

Next  to  the  study  of  Man,  in  his  relations  to 
]N"ature,  comes  the  study  of  Man  in  his  relations  to 
Society.    By  this  I  mean  his  history,  as  exemplified 


44 


in  the  monuments  of  literature  and  art,  in  lan- 
guage, laws  and  institutions,  in  manners,  morals 
and  religion.  More  particularly  still  I  refer  to  the 
principles  of  good  government,  including  jurispru- 
dence on  the  one  hand,  and  political  economy  on 
the  other.  Legislation,  taxation,  finance,  crime, 
pauperism,  municipal  government,  morality  in 
public  and  private  affairs,  are  among  the  special 
topics.  The  civil  law,  international  law,  the  early 
history  of  institutions,  in  short,  the  history  of  civil- 
ization and  the  requirements  of  a  modern  State 
come  under  this  department.  If  we  may  judge  from 
what  is  said  by  some  of  the  best  publicists,  the 
United  States,  at  this  moment,  is  suffering  from 
the  neglect  of  these  studies.  There  is  a  call  for 
men  who  have  been  trained  by  other  agencies  than 
the  caucus  for  the  discussion  of  public  affairs  ;  men 
who  know  what  the  experience  of  the  world  has 
been  in  the  development  of  institutions,  and  are 
prepared  by  intellectual  and  moral  discipline  to 
advance  the  public  interests,  irrespective  of  party, 
indifferent  to  the  attainment  of  official  stations. 
To  this  end  our  plans  converge. 


Natioxal  Surveys. 

It  is  generally  conceded  by   our  most   influ- 
ential men  of  science  and  of  affairs,  that  before 


45 

many  years  have  passed,  an  accurate  survey  of 
the  area  of  the  United  States,  corresponding  with 
the  ordnance  and  geographical  surveys  of  Great 
Britain,  France,  Switzerland  and  Germany,  must 
be  undertaken.  Under  what  auspices  and  upon 
what  plan  remains  to  be  determined.  At  present 
the  heads  of  all  the  governmental  surveys  acknow- 
ledge the  difficulty  of  finding  men  enough,  qualified 
enough,  to  carry  forward  efficiently  such  work  in 
all  its  manifold  departments,  astronomical,  geodet- 
ical,  topographical,  meteorological,  geological,  zoo- 
logical, botanical,  economical.  If  our  University 
can  provide  instructions  in  these  dej)artments  of 
physical  research,  looking  forward  to  the  future 
development,  not  only  of  Maryland  and  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  but  also  of  the  entire  land,  it  will  do  a 
good  service. 

Applied  Mathematics. 

There  is  a  department  of  engineering  which  may 
also  receive  special  attention  here.  The  needs  of 
cities  or  large  towns  are  such  in  our  day  that  every 
centre  of  population,  where  fifteen  or  twenty 
thousand  persons  are  assembled,  should  have  the 
services  of  a  competent  scientific  engineer.  He 
must  of  course  have  a  general  mathematical  train- 
ing; but  he  should  also  know  how  to  use  these 
fundamental  principles  in  municipal  afi^airs,  in  the 


46 

preparation  of  exact  maps,  in  the  determination  of 
the  supplies  of  water,  and  the  methods  of  drainage, 
in  the  construction  of  roads,  boulevards,  pleasure 
grounds  and  parks,  the  building  of  wharves  and 
docks,  the  supervision  of  gas  works  and  fire 
engines,  the  erection  of  public  buildings,  monu- 
ments and  places  of  assembly.  There  should  be  a 
recognized  preparation  for  this  work  of  civic  or 
municipal  engineering — in  distinction  from  civil 
engineering,  which  is  a  more  vague  and  general 
term,  including  perhaps  the  subordinate  branches 
to  which  I  have  referred. 

Architecture  is  closely  connected  with  this  de- 
partment. So  far  as  I  am  aware  there  are  now,  in 
this  new  country  where  so  much  building  is  in 
progress,  but  two  schools  for  the  professional  study 
of  this,  the  first  of  arts. 

I  can  hardly  doubt  that  such  arrangements  as 
we  are  maturing  will  cause  this  institution  to  be  a 
place  for  the  training  of  professors  and  teachers  for 
the  highest  academic  posts ;  and  I  hope  in  time  to 
see  arrangement  made  for  the  unfolding  of  the 
philosophy,  principles  and  methods  of  education 
in  a  way  which  will  be  of  service  to  those  who 
mean  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  highest  depart- 
ments of  instruction. 

But  in  forming  all  these  plans  we  must  beware 
lest  we  are  led  away  from  our  foundations ;  lest  we 
make  our  schools  technical  instead  of  liberal ;  and 


47 


impart  a  knowledge  of  metbods  ratlier  than  of 
principles.  If  we  make  this  mistake,  we  may  have 
an  excellent  Polytechnicum  but  not  a  University. 


The  Faculty  and  Students. 

Who  shall  our  teachers  he  ? 

This  question  the  public  has  answered  for  us ; 
for  I  believe  there  is  scarcely  a  preeminent  man  of 
science  or  letters,  at  home  or  abroad,  who  has  not 
received  a  popular  nomination  for  the  vacant  pro- 
fessorships. Some  of  these  candidates  we  shall 
certainly  secure,  and  their  names  will  be  one  by 
one  made  known.  But  I  must  tell  you,  in  domestic 
confidence,  that  it  is  not  an  easy  task  to  transplant 
a  tree  which  is  deeply  rooted.  It  is  especially 
hard  to  do  so  in  our  soil  and  climate.  Though  a 
migratory  people,  our  college  professors  are  fix- 
tures. Such  local  college  attachments  are  not 
known  in  Germany;  and  the  promotions  which 
are  frequent  in  Germany  are  less  thought  of  here. 
When  we  think  of  calling  foreign  teachers,  we 
encounter  other  difficulties.  Many  are  reluctant 
to  cross  the  sea ;  and  others  are,  by  reason  of 
their  lack  of  acquaintance  with  our  language  and 
ways,  unavailable.  Besides  we  may  as  well  admit 
that  London,  Paris,  Leipsic,  Berlin  and  Vienna, 
afford  facilities  for  literary  and  scientific  growth 


48 

and  influence,  far  beyond  what  our  country  affords. 
Hence,  it  is  probable  that  among  our  own  country- 
men, our  faculty  will  be  chiefly  found. 

I  wrote,  not  long  ago,  to  an  eminent  physicist, 
presenting  this  problem  in  social  mechanics,  for 
which  I  asked  his  solution.  "  We  cannot  have  a 
great  university  without  great  professors ;  we  can- 
not have  great  professors  till  we  have  a  great 
university:  help  us  from  the  dilemma."  Let  me 
tell  his  answer :  "  Your  difficulty,"  he  says, 
"applies  only  to  old  men  who  are  great;  these 
you  can  rarely  move;  but  the  young  men  of 
genius,  talent,  learning  and  promise,  you  can 
draw.     They  should  be  your  strength." 

The  young  Americans  of  talent  and  promise — 
there  is  our  strength,  and  a  noble  company  they 
are!  We  do  not  ask  from  what  college,  or  what 
state,  or  what  church  they  come ;  but  what  do  they 
know,  and  what  can  they  do,  and  what  do  they 
want  to  find  out. 

In  the  biographies  of  eminent  scholars,  it  is 
curious  to  observe  how  many  indicated  in  youth 
preeminent  ability.  Isaac  Casaubon,  whose  name 
in  the  sixteenth  century  shed  lustre  on  the  learned 
circles  of  Geneva,  Montpellier,  Paris,  London  and 
Oxford,  began  as  professor  of  Greek,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two;  and  Heinsius,  his  Ley  den  cotemporary, 
at  eighteen.  It  was  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight, 
that  Linnaeus  first  published  his  Systema  Naticroe. 


49 


Cuvier  was  appointed  a  professor  in  Paris  at 
twenty-six,  and,  a  few  months  later,  a  member  of 
the  Institute.  James  Kent,  the  great  commentator 
on  American  law,  began  his  lectures  in  Columbia 
College  at  the  age  of  thirty-one.  Henry  was  not 
far  from  thirty  years  of  age  when  he  made  his 
world-renowned  researches  in  electro-magnetism ; 
and  Dana's  great  work  on  mineralogy  was  first 
published  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  old,  and 
about  four  years  after  he  graduated  at  H^ew  Haven. 
Look  at  the  Harvard  lists: — Everett  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Greek  at  twenty-one;  Benjamin  Peirce 
of  Mathematics  at  twenty-four;  and  Agassiz  was 
not  yet  forty  when  he  came  to  this  country.  For 
fifty  years  Yale  College  rested  on  three  men  selected 
in  their  youth  by  Dr.  Dwight,  and  almost  simul- 
taneously set  at  work ;  Day  was  twenty-eight,  Silli- 
man,  twenty-three,  and  Kingsley,  twenty-seven, 
when  they  began  their  professorial  lives.  The 
University  of  Virginia,  early  in  its  history,  at- 
tracted foreign  teachers,  who  were  all  young  men. 
We  shall  hope  to  secure  a  strong  staff  of  young- 
men,  appointing  them  because  they  have  twenty 
years  before  them ;  selecting  them  on  evidence 
of  their  ability;  increasing  constantly  their  emolu- 
ments, and  promoting  them  because  of  their  merit 
to  successive  posts,  as  scholars,  fellows,  assistants, 
adjuncts,  professors  and  university  professors.  This 
plan  will  give  us  an  opportunity  to  introduce  some 
4 


60 


of  the  features  of  the  English  fellowship  and  the 
German  system  of  privat-doeents ;  or  in  other 
words,  to  furnish  positions  where  young  men  desi- 
rous of  a  university  career  may  have  a  chance  to 
begin,  sure  at  least  of  a  support  while  waiting  for 
promotion. 

Our  plans  begin  but  do  not  end  here.  As  men 
of  distinction,  who  have  won  the  highest  rank  in 
their  callings,  are  known  to  be  free,  we  shall  invite 
them  to  come  among  us. 

For  a  time,  at  least,  we  shall  also  look  to  the 
faculties  of  other  colleges  for  occasional  help. 
Many  years  ago,  among  the  plans  for  establishing 
a  university,  in  distinction  from  a  college,  at  Cam- 
bridge, Professor  Peirce  proposed  that  various  col- 
leges should  send  up  for  a  portion  of  the  year,  and 
for  a  term  of  years,  their  best  professors,  who 
should  receive  a  generous  acknowledgment  for 
this  service,  and  good  opportunities  for  work,  but 
should  not  renounce  their  college  homes.  With- 
out having  heard  of  his  plan,  w.hich  I  think  had 
not  been  made  public,  the  Trustees  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University  have  worked  out  a  kindred 
scheme.  They  propose  to  ask  distinguished  pro- 
fessors from  other  colleges  to  come  to  us  during  a 
term  of  years,  each  to  reside  here  for  an  appointed 
time,  and  be  accessible,  publice  et  privatim.  both  in 
the  lecture  room  and  the  study. 


51 


Where  do  ive  look  for  students  9 

At  first,  at  home,  in  Baltimore  and  Maryland  ; 
then,  in  the  States  adjacent ;  then,  in  the  regions 
of  our  country  where,  by  the  desolations  of  war, 
educational  foundations  have  been  impaired ;  and 
presently,  according  to  the  renown  of  the  faculty, 
which  we  are  able  to  bring  here,  and  the  complete- 
ness of  the  establishment,  we  hope  that  our  influ- 
ence will  be  national. 

Of  what  grade  will  they  be?  Mature  enough  to 
be  profited  by  university  education.  The  exact 
standard  is  not  yet  fixed.  It  must  depend  on  the 
colleges  and  schools  around  us ;  there  must  be  no 
gap  in  the  system,  and  we  must  keep  ahead,  but 
the  discussions  now  in  progress,  respecting  the  City 
College,  Agricultural  College  and  St.  John's  College, 
must  delay  our  announcements.  Our  standard  will 
doubtless  be  as  high  as  the  community  requires. 

What  will  the  buildings  he  9 

At  first,  temporary,  but  commodious;  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  accessible  to  all ;  and  fitted  for 
lectures,  laboratories,  library  and  collections.  At 
length,  permanent,  on  the  site  at  Clifton  ;  not  a 
mediaeval  pile,  I  hope,  but  a  series  of  modern 
institutions ;  not  a  monumental,  but  a  serviceable 
group  of  structures.  The  middle  ages  have  not 
built  any  cloisters  for  us ;  why  should  we  build  for 
the  middle  ages?     In  these  days  laboratories  are 


52 


demanded  on  a  scale  and  in  a  variety  hitherto 
unknown,  for  chemistry,  physics,  geology  and 
mineralogy,  comparative  anatomy,  physiology, 
pathology.  Oxford  with  its  New  Museum ;  Cam- 
bridge with  its  Cavendish  laboratory ;  Owens  Col- 
lege with  its  excellent  work-rooms;  South  Ken- 
sington wdth  the  new  apartments  of  Huxley  and 
Frankland ;  Lcipsic,  Vienna,  Berlin,  all  afford 
illustrations  of  the  kind  of  structures  we  shall 
need.  Already  measures  have  been  initiated  for 
the  improvement  of  Clifton  as  a  university  site. 
Although  it  will  take  time  to  develop  the  plans,  I 
hope  that  we  shall  all  live  to  see  the  day  when  the 
simplicity,  the  timeliness,  and  the  strength  w^hich 
characterized  our  founder's  gift,  will  be  also  appa- 
rent in  the  structures  which  his  trustees  erect ; 
and  when  that  site,  beautiful  in  itself  and  already 
w^ell  planted,  may  be,  in  fact,  an  academic  grove, 
with  temples  of  learning,  so  appropriate,  so  true, 
and  so  well  built  that  no  other  ornament  will  be 
essential  for  beauty,  and  yet  that  in  their  neigh- 
borhood no  work  of  art  will  be  out  of  place. 

Our  affiliations  deserve  mention.  Already  harmo- 
nious relations  have  been  established  between  this 
University  and  the  Peabody  Institute,  the  Academy 
of  Sciences,  and  the  City  College,  and  the  depart- 
ments of  State  and  City  Education.  I  may  also 
add  that  the  authorities  of  the  scientific  institutions 
in  Washington  have  evinced  in  many  ways  good 


53 


will  toward  their  new  ally  in  Baltimore.  As  this 
University  grows,  we  may  anticipate  perpetual 
advantages  from  its  proximity  to  the  national 
capital,  where  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  the 
Engineer  Corps,  the  Naval  Observatory,  the  Coast 
Survey,  the  Signal  Service,  the  Botanical  Gardens, 
the  Congressional  Library,  the  I*^ational  Museum, 
the  Territorial  Surveys,  the  Army  Medical  and 
Surgical  Collections,  and  the  Corcoran  Art  Gallery 
are  such  powerful  instruments  for  the  advancement 
of  science,  literature  and  art. 

The  relation  of  this  University  to  the  Idglier 
education  of  women  has  not  been  as  yet  discussed 
by  the  Trustees,  and  doubtless  their  future  conclu- 
sions will  depend  very  much  upon  the  way  in 
which  the  subject  is  brought  forward.  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  speak  for  them,  but  personally  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  the  plans  pursued  in  the 
University  of  Cambridge  (England),  especially  in 
the  encouragement  of  Girton  College,  seem  likely 
to  afford  a  good  solution  of  a  problem  which  is 
not  without  difficulty,  however  it  is  approached. 
Of  this  I  am  certain,  that  they  are  not  among  the 
wise,  who  depreciate  the  intellectual  capacity  of 
women,  and  they  are  not  among  the  prudent,  who 
would  deny  to  women  the  best  opportunities  for 
education  and  culture. 

I  trust  the  day  is  near  when  some  one,  following 
the  succession  of  Peabody  and  Hopkins,  will  insti- 


54 

tute  here  a  "Girton  College,"  which  may  avail 
itself  of  the  advantages  of  the  Peabody  and 
Hopkins  foundations,  without  obliging  the  pupils 
to  give  up  the  advantages  of  a  home,  or  exposing 
them  to  the  rougher  influences  which  I  am  sorry 
to  confess  are  still  to  be  found  in  colleges  and 
universities  where  young  men  resort.  For  the 
establishment  in  Baltimore  of  such  a  hall  as  Girton 
I  shall  confidently  look. 

^  '—  ^^ 

J^thi*Qi;}*ft      fHE  University  Freedom, 

would  maintain  a  university,  great  freedom 


must  be  allowed  both  to  teachers  and  scholars. 
This  involves  freedom  of  methods  to  be  employed 
by  the  instructors  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other,  freedom  of  courses  to  be  selected  by  the 
students. 

But  this  freedom  is  based  on  laws, — two  of  which 
cannot  be  too  distinctly  or  too  often  enunciated. 
A  law  which  should  govern  the  admission  of  pupils 
is  this,  that  before  they  win  this  privilege  they 
must  have  been  matured  by  the  long,  preparatory 
discipline  of  superior  teachers,  and  by  the  sys- 
tematic, laborious,  and  persistent  pursuit  of  funda- 
mental knowledge;  and  a  second  law,  which  should 
govern  the  work  of  professors,  is  this,  that  with 
unselfish  devotion  to  the  discoverv  and  advance- 


55 


ment  of  truth  and  righteousness,  they  renounce 
all  other  preferment,  so  that,  like  the  greatest 
of  all  teachers,  they  may  promote  the  good  of 
mankind. 

I  see  no  advantage  in  our  attempting  to  main- 
tain the  traditional  four-year  class-system  of  the 
American  colleges.     It  has  never  existed  in  the 
University  of  Virginia;  it  is  modified,  though  not 
nominally  given  up  at  Harvard ;  it  is  not  an  im- 
portant characteristic  of  Michigan  and  Cornell ;  it 
is  not  known  in  the  English,  French  or  German 
universities.     It  is  a  collegiate  rather  than  a  uni- 
versity method.     If  parents  or  students  desire  us 
to  mark  out  prescribed  courses,  either  classical  or 
scientific,  lasting  four  years,  it  will  be  easy  to  do 
so.     But   I   apprehend   that   many   students   will 
come  to  us  excellent  in  some  branches  of  a  liberal 
education  and  deficient  in  others — good  perhaps  in 
Greek,  Latin  and  mathematics ;  deficient  in  chem- 
istry, physics,  zoology,  history,  political  economy, 
and  other  progressive  sciences.     I  would  give  to 
such   candidates  on  examination,  credit  for  their 
attainments,  and  assign  them  in  each  study  the 
place  for  which  they  are  fitted.     A  proficient  in 
Plato  may  be  a  tyro  in  Euclid.     Moreover,  I  would 
make  attainments  rather  than  time  the  condition 
of  promotion ;  and  I  would  encourage  every  scholar 
to  go  forward  rapidly  or  g'o  forward  slowly,  accord- 
ing to  the  fleetness  of  his  foot  and  his  freedom  from 


56 


impediment.  In  other  words,  I  would  have  our 
University  seek  the  good  of  individuals  rather 
than  of  classes. 

The  sphere  of  a  university  is  sometimes  re- 
stricted by  its  walls,  or  is  limited  to  those  who  are 
enrolled  on  its  lists.  There  are  three  particulars 
in  which  we  shall  aim  at  extra-mural  influence: 
first,  as  an  examining  body,  ready  to  examine  and 
confer  degrees  or  other  academic  honors  on  those 
who  are  trained  elsewhere;  next,  as  a  teaching 
body,  by  opening  to  educated  persons  (whether 
enrolled  as  students  or  not)  such  lectures  as  they 
may  wish  to  attend,  under  certain  restrictions — on 
the  plan  of  the  lectures  in  the  high  seminaries  of 
Paris;  and,  finally,  as  in  some  degree  at  least' a 
publishing  body,  by  encouraging  professors  and 
lecturers  to  give  to  the  world  in  print  the  results 
of  their  researches. 


Conclusion. 

Let  us  now,  as  we  draw  near  the  close  of  this 
allotted  hour,  turn  from  details  and  recur  to  gen- 
eral principles. 

What  are  we  aiming  at  ? 

An  enduring  foundation ;  a  slow  development ; 
first  local,  then  regional,  then  national  influence ; 


57 


the  most  liberal  promotion  of  all  useful  knowledge ; 
the  special  provision  of  such  departments  as  are 
elsewhere  neglected  in  the  country ;  a  generous 
affiliation  with  all  other  institutions,  avoiding  inter- 
ferences, and  engaging  in  no  rivalry ;  the  encour- 
agement of  research  ;  the  promotion  of  young  men  ; 
and  the  advancement  of  individual  scholars,  who 
by  their  excellence  will  advance  the  sciences  they 
pursue,  and  the  society  where  they  dwell. 

JSTo  words  could  indicate  our  aim  more  fitly  than 
those  by  which  John  Henry  Newman  expresses  his 
"  Idea  of  the  University,"  in  a  page  burning  with 
enthusiasm,  to  which  I  delight  to  revert. 

What  will  be  our  agencies  ? 

A  large  staif  of  teachers  ;  abundance  of  instru- 
ments, apparatus,  diagrams,  books,  and  other 
means  of  research  and  instruction ;  good  labora- 
tories, with  all  the  requisite  facilities ;  accessory 
influences,  coming  both  from  Baltimore  and  Wash- 
ington ;  funds  so  unrestricted,  charter  so  free, 
schemes  so  elastic,  that  as  the  world  goes  forward, 
our  plans  will  be  adjusted  to  its  new  requirements. 

What  will  he  our  methods  ? 

Liberal  advanced  instruction  for  those  who  want 
it ;  distinctive  honors  for  those  who  win  them  ; 
appointed  courses  for  those  who  need  them  ;  special 
courses  for  those  who  can  take  no  other ;  a  combi- 


58 


nation  of  lectures,  recitations,  laboratory  practice, 
field  work  and  private  instruction  ;  the  largest  dis- 
cretion allowed  to  the  Faculty  consistent  with  the 
purposes  in  view;  and,  finally,  an  appeal  to  the 
community  to  increase  our  means,  to  strengthen 
our  hands,  to  supplement  our  deficiencies,  and  espe- 
cially to  surround  our  scholars  with  those  social, 
domestic  and  religious  influences  which  a  corpora- 
tion can  at  best  imperfectly  provide,  but  which 
may  be  abundantly  enjoyed  in  the  homes,  the 
churches  and  the  private  associations  of  an  enlight- 
ened Christian  city. 

Citizens  of  Baltimore  and  Maryland: — 
This  great  undertaking  does  not  rest  upon  the 
Trustees  alone ;  the  whole  community  has  a  share 
in  it.  However  strong  our  purposes,  they  will  be 
modified,  inevitably,  by  the  opinions  of  enlightened 
men ;  so  let  parents  and  teachers  incite  the  youth 
of  this  commonwealth  to  high  aspirations  ;  let  wise 
and  judicious  counsellors  continue  their  helpful 
suggestions,  sure  of  being  heard  with  grateful  con- 
sideration; let  skillful  writers,  avoiding  captious- 
ness  on  the  one  hand  and  compliment  on  the  other, 
uphold  or  refute  or  amend  the  tenets  here  an- 
nounced;  let  the  guardians  of  the  press  diff*use 
widely  a  knowledge  of  the  benefits  which  are  here 
provided ;  let  men  of  means  largely  increase  the 
usefulness  of  this  work  by  their  timely  gifts. 


59 


At  the  moment  there  is  nothing  which  seems  to 
me  so  important,  in  this  region,  and  indeed  in  the 
entire  land,  as  the  promotion  of  good  secondary 
schools,  preparatory  to  the  universities.  There  are 
old  foundations  in  Maryland  which  require  to  be 
made  strong,  and  there  is  room  for  newer  enter- 
prises, of  various  forms.  Every  large  town  should 
have  an  efficient  academy  or  high  school ;  and  men 
of  wealth  can  do  no  greater  service  to  the  public 
than  by  liberally  encouraging,  in  their  various 
places  of  abode,  the  advanced  instruction  of  the 
young.  None  can  estimate  too  highly  the  good 
which  came  to  England  from  the  endowment  of 
Lawrence  Sheriff  at  Rugby,  and  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's school  at  Westminster,  or  the  value  to  'New 
England  of  the  Phillips  foundations  in  Exeter  and 
Andover. 

Every  contribution  made  by  others  to  this  new 
University  will  enable  the  Trustees  to  administer 
with  greater  liberality  their  present  funds.  Special 
foundations  may  be  affiliated  with  our  trust,  for 
the  encouragement  of  particular  branches  of  know- 
ledge, for  the  reward  of  merit,  for  the  construction 
of  buildings ;  and  each  gift,  like  the  new  recruits 
of  an  army,  will  be  the  more  efficient  because  of  the 
place  it  takes  in  an  organized  and  efficient  com- 
pany. It  is  a  great  satisfaction  in  this  world  of 
changes  and  pecuniary  loss  to  remember  what  safe 
investments  have  been  made  at  Harvard  and  Yale, 


60 


and  other  old  colleges,  where  dollar  for  dollar  is 
still  shown  for  every  gift. 

The  atmosphere  of  Maryland  seems  favorable  to 
such  deeds  of  piety,  hospitality  and  ''  good -will  to 
men."  George  Calvert,  the  first  Lord  Baltimore, 
comes  here,  returns  to  England  and  draws  up  a 
charter  which  becomes  memorable  in  the  annals  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  for  which,  "  he  deserves 
to  be  ranked,"  (as  Bancroft  says),  "  among  the 
most  wise  and  benevolent  lawgivers  of  all  ages ; " 
among  the  liberals  of  1776  none  was  bolder 
than  Charles  Carroll  of  CarroUton ;  John  Eager 
Howard,  the  hero  of  Cowpens,  is  almost  equally 
worthy  of  gratitude  for  the  liberality  of  his  public 
gifts ;  John  McDonogh,  of  Baltimore  birth,  be- 
stows his  fortune  upon  two  cities  for  the  instruction 
of  their  youth  ;  George  Peabody,  resident  here  in 
early  life,  comes  back  in  old  age  to  endow  an 
Athenaeum,  and  begins  that  outpouring  of  munifi- 
cence which  gives  him  a  noble  rank  among  modern 
philanthropists;  Moses  Sheppard  bequeaths  more 
than  half  a  million  for  the  relief  of  mental  disease  ; 
Rinehart,  the  teamster  boy,  attains  distinction  as 
a  sculptor,  and  bestows  his  well-won  acquisitions 
for  the  encouragement  of  art  in  the  city  of  his 
residence  ;  and  a  Baltimorean  still  living,  provides 
for  the  foundation  of  an  astronomical  observatory 
in  Yale  College ;  while  Johns  Hopkins  lays  a  foun- 


61 

dation  for  learning  and  charity,  which  we  celebrate 
to-day. 

Let  me  enlist  attention  from  the  youth  of  Bal- 
timore. For  you,  my  young  friends,  these  great 
advantages  are  provided.  What  will  be  your 
response?  Is  there  not  among  you  some  book- 
binder's boy,  like  Michael  Faraday,  who  will  be 
led  by  our  Royal  Institution  to  a  line  of  research 
for  which  the  w^orld  will  be  better;  is  there  not 
here  some  j)rivate  teacher,  like  Cuvier,  or  some 
minister's  son,  like  Agassiz,  burning  with  a  desire 
to  pursue  the  study  of  natural  history ;  is  there  not 
some  sophomore  in  college,  like  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, ready  to  discuss  the  questions  of  public  finance, 
eager  to  be  trained  by  a  master  economist;  is  there 
not  in  Baltimore  a  genius  in  mathematics,  like 
Gauss,  who  at  three  years  old  corrected  his  father's 
arithmetic,  at  eighteen  entered  the  University  of 
Gottingen  where  he  made  a  discovery  which  had 
puzzled  geometers  "from  the  days  of  Euclid,"  and 
who  died  at  seventy-seven,  among  the  most  emi- 
nent of  his  time?  If  so,  I  say  it  is  for  you,  bright 
youths,  that  these  doors  are  opened.  Enter  the 
armory  and  equip  yourselves. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees: — The 
duty  you  assigned  me  of  unfolding  your  plans  is 
now  imperfectly  discharged.     I  hope  that  I  have 


62 

not  struck  too  low  a  key  in  speaking  of  the  oppor- 
tunities, and  on  the  contrary,  that  I  have  not  said 
anything  in  rivalry  or  boast.  If  I  have  seemed 
cautious,  you  are  sanguine,  invigorated  by  the 
force  of  a  lofty  purpose,  and  the  comforting  con- 
sciousness of  ample  means.  If  I  have  seemed 
sanguine,  you  are  cautious,  aware  that  there  are 
other  institutions,  older,  richer,  and  more  expe- 
rienced than  this,  whose  example  we  must  study, 
and  whose  help  we  must  seek. 

Before  concluding,  I  repeat  in  public  the  assent 
which  I  have  privately  made  to  your  official  over- 
tures. In  speaking  of  your  freedom  from  sectarian 
and  political  control,  you  expressed  to  me  a  hope 
that  this  foundation  should  be  pervaded  by  the 
spirit  of  an  enlightened  Christianity ;  while  you 
proposed  to  train  young  men  for  the  service  of  the 
State  and  the  responsibilities  of  public  life,  you 
hoped  the  University  would  never  engage  in  sec- 
tional, partisan  and  provincial  animosities.  In 
both  these  propositions  I  now  as  then  express  my 
cordial  and  entire  concurrence. 

Our  w^ork  now  begins.  This  place  is  felicitous, 
midway  between  the  extremes  of  Ts'orth  and  South, 
and  redolent  of  memories  of  men  and  women 
whose  names  the  world  w^ill  never  fotget.  This 
day  is  suggestive,  reminding  us  of  one  whose  wise 


63 


moderation  wrought  great  achievements.  This  year 
is  auspicious,  inviting  us  to  sink  political  animosi- 
ties in  sentiments  of  fraternal  good  will,  and  of 
patriotic  regard  for  a  re-united  republic.  This 
company  is  inspiring;  the  city,  the  state,  and  the 
older  seats  of  learning,  far  and  near,  here  express 
their  good  will.  Most  welcome  among  their  utter- 
ances are  the  words  with  which  the  oldest  college 
in  the  land  extends  its  fellowship  to  the  youngest 
of  the  band. 

So,  friends  and  colleagues,  we  launch  our  bark 
upon  the  Patapsco,  and  send  it  forth  to  unknown 
seas.  May  its  course  be  guided  by  looking  to  the 
heavens  and  the  voyage  promote  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  good  of  Mankind. 

Permit  one  word  of  a  personal  character  before 
I  take  my  seat.  My  life  thus  far  has  been  spent 
in  two  universities,  one  full  of  honors,  the  other  of 
hopes ;  one  led  by  experience,  the  other  by  expecta- 
tions. May  the  lessons  of  both,  the  old  and  the 
new,  be  wisely  blended  here.  There  is  not  a  place 
in  all  the  land  which  I  should  be  so  glad  to  fill  as 
that  in  which  I  have  been  placed  by  your  favorable 
consideration ;  but  the  burdens  will  be  heavy  unless 
your  kind  indulgence  is  continued.  Standing 
almost  within  sight  of  the  monument  which  has 
given  a  name  to  this  city,  do  not  deem  it  pre- 
sumptous  if  I  adopt  the  words  which  Washington 


64 


addressed  to  the  citizens  of  Baltimore  in  1789,  and 
say  on  his  memorial  day,  as  he  said  then : 

"  I  know  the  delicate  nature  of  the  duties  incident  to  the  part. 
I  am  called  to  perform,  and  I  feel  ray  incompetence  without  the 
singular  assistance  of  Providence  to  discharge  them  in  a  satisfac- 
tory manner;  but  having  undertaken  the  task  from  a  sense  of 
duty,  no  fear  of  encountering  difficulties,  and  no  dread  of  losing 
popularity  shall  ever  deter  me  from  pursuing  what  I  take  to  be 
the  true  interests  of  my  country." 


7  PM 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


